Thursday, January 17, 2013

Patterned Turtle Neck

I have to be really honest with you, I have never been a huge fan of the turtleneck. Even growing up as a child of the 80's and 90's, I was never impressed by this style statement. To me, it looked like something only a grandma would wear. Perhaps because it was something both of my grandmothers wore.

So why bother posting a pattern that I wouldn't want to make? The thing is, I actually kind of do like this pattern! I think it's because the height of this one seems less restricting than your typical turtleneck. I mean in the picture she's got a scarf around her neck with the sweater and her entire neck isn't completely swallowed up by the sweater. Plus, I do love a fitted knit sweater - and this is clearly nice and fitted. I also like the subtle diamond pattern that must be made with purl stitches on the right side.; just enough to give the sweater some texture.

Click on the two links below to be taken to the google image of the pattern instructions:

Have I insulted you with my rant on turtlenecks? I truly apologize, no harm meant. Or maybe you agree with me? What are your thoughts on turtlenecks - can you prove me wrong and rave about how wonderful they are?

16 comments:

Turtlenecks drive me crazy - I'm always tugging at them. I can handle a mock-turtle or a more loose cowl type, but I have at least one sweater I chopped the turtleneck off to make a crew-neck. (And even more baffling to me, why do modern sweaters usually have a turtle-neck and SHORT-sleeves??) I like your pattern photo - looks like a mock-turtle and it has a nice classic retro appeal. =)

i have one turtleneck sweater in my closet and it never gets worn (it doesn't stay cold for very long here), so i was thinking about cutting off the turtleneck and making it into a crewneck or scoopneck… maybe if i lived somewhere really cold i'd like them better

How lucky that you don't have to worry about the cold! I think it is a great idea to alter your sweater into a crew neck or scoop neck - I am sure there are many tutorials out there on the best way to do that.

That turtleneck does look really nice. Maybe it's the bow? I have a friend who likes to wear turtlenecks, and she even looks nice wearing them. Personally, I hate the look on myself... but then, I don't even like crewnecks and have to lower or widen the neckline of pretty much every knit top pattern to like it. *shrugs*

I like to wear cotton turtlenecks during the winter. This design looks more like a mock turtleneck and besides, it has a knitted pattern to give it more interest. The model might have a long neck; lots of models do. Given the gauge for the sweater, try to figure out how high the neck banding is to determine if it will work equally as well for you. It might be possible to knit the neck banding shorter without doing damage to the appearance of the sweater.

Linda, you are probably right about the model having a long neck - as that would likely be true even for the 50's. I really do like the idea of knitting this sweater and modifying the neckline to possibly make it more of a crew neck or something like that. I'll have to muddle through the pattern first, I haven't done a lot of pattern altering when it comes to knitting.

I'm SO with you; I despise turtlenecks! I'm not sure where this deep loathing came from, but I suspect it's a combination of how I look in them plus how horrible I feel in them - I feel choked! lol. I know some people have more tolerance for things sitting up against their throat but I'm not one of them.

They drive me nuts! Most shop bought ones were made from wool (or at least the ones my Mum bought when I was a kid were) and I'm allergic so I associate them with being itchy and uncomfortable. Not to mention I don't have the chin to pull them off ;)

Oh that would be terrible to be allergic to wool and wear a turtle neck - I bet it's almost suffocating. I think that something about my face shape makes them hard to pull off too, I'm not sure if my chin or jaw-line is more to blame though.

I used to LOVE turtlenecks. You know, the living in Pennsylvania where it was cold. I wore them as a base layer for running all the time. Then a fleece, then a windbreaker hoodie, a hat, a scarf. The fabric around the neck helped alot. I'd wear them under sweaters too in the winter. Then I got older and moved south and now I like some space around my neck. I have one turtleneck sweater that I like to wear, but not nearly daily like I did 20 years ago! This looks more like a mock-neck - almost a high crew neck, though. So ....

Oh, I bet a turtleneck would make a great base layer when running in the winter. Before I hurt my hip running, I used to run outside no matter how cold it was - and I think a warm turtleneck would have been very beneficial.